The Jennifer Rosenblatt Lawsuit-update

In case you were of the opinion that Tennessee was a shoe-in against Jacksonville and missed the following story:

Porn Valley- I've purposely kept out of the Jennifer Rosenblatt- AVN wars up until now, only to wait for the right time to jump in. And now's the right time.

I told some of the AVN story when I left it to go to Extreme Associates but half the adult industry didn't believe what I had to say and the other half silently nodded and winked but never had the guts to lend any vocal or moral support. I know- I saw it all - the first trade show I attended in Vegas in an Extreme Associates capacity, I got the thumbs up, the handshakes, the we know what you're talking about telling nods. But I didn't see any courage, and, frankly, I wasn't asking for it from anyone but myself.

It takes a little bit of guts, you know, to walk away from a good paying job. A great paying job, but what good is it when you spend your days with your twisted stomach making balloon dolls.

I read Rosenblatt's suit and can tell you I've witnessed a lot of what she has to say first hand. Remember, I was there almost from the very beginning, long before Jennifer Rosenblatt came aboard, in the days when another Rosenblatt- Barry- was the first business partner then got greased conveniently out of the equation so that the publisher could cut his printer in to keep AVN afloat.

AVN, with it's astronomical printing bill incurred from a big headed and badly thought out attempt to go newsstand, was just about done and out of business when I came aboard. But because I busted my balls over the next four years, the magazine got in pretty good shape. And, because of that, I was promised ownership and a free one-way trip to California. So I know what Jennifer Rosenblatt's talking about in her breach of contract allegations. Except my contract was verbal. The kind you can't prove at the end of the day except to believe the other person making it is honorable.

I know what Jennifer Rosenblatt's talking about when her suit discusses "humiliation, insomnia, depression, emotional distress, physical pain and anguish. I was there I've seen women crying; I've seen them turned into mental cases. You got to ask yourself. What kind of man is it who browbeats women like that?

Cryin' out loud I was brow beat. A very famous person in this business once saw me being humiliated during an industry conference in Cancun a few years ago. "You're being abused," he told me. Yeah, and you're point being? Yeah, I took it in the ass for the money.

I was also very amused when www.lukeisback.com wrote the following: "The November issue of Philadelphia magazine will run a feature-length profile of Paul Fishbein, who comes from Philadelphia. Though I'm not expecting any bombshells, I do expect a quality article by Richard Rys."

He's right about not expecting any bombshells. And, no, you're not going to get a quality article. You're going to get a handjob. I was approached by Rys, and I agreed to interview with him on the condition that he talk to a number of people which I provided on a list. People who could give witness to the truth, but not saying that they were going to be forthcoming.

But Rys didn't give me any reason to believe that was the case, so I was reluctant, as you might expect, to be placed in the position of looking like the village idiot with no back up. Still I was willing to talk to Rys but on the condition that we do it on the weekend. You figure any journalist would have grabbed the opportunity- not Rys. It wasn't convenient to him. That plus the fact he kept pressing the issue of how he was coming down to the wire, lent the distinct impression that Rys had done no homework at all, and I was his sloppy seconds on a short interview list when I should have been the first person called. Nobody knows more about the history of that magazine than I do. Yeah Rys' article is going to be real good.

Lukeisback.com also writes: "Philadelphia tried to do this same article two years ago with a freelancer out of San Diego, but they were disappointed by what he turned in, and trashed it."

Was that because I interviewed with that writer, and Philadelphia Magazine got cold feet when they saw the time bomb they had on its hands?

Yeah, we're gonna talk, 'cause I got a lot to say. But my prediction is AVN's going to go for a quick settlement to sweep it all under the rug.